Battle of Saragarhi-- A tribute to the real heroes. I salute them who layed their lives for the mother land.

Of courage and bravery

A tale be told

Long forgotten, brought forth

From the memories of the old.


Of 21 men who

Died at duty's call

Who laid down their lives


And let not the fort fall.


'Twas the year 1897

The Battle of Saragarhi was waged,

10,000 Afghans, 21 Sikhs

Yet for hours the battle raged.



Outnumbered and surrounded

And still the men fought on

With a stubbornness and pride for which,

The Sikhs have long been known.


Charge after charge was repulsed

And nary a bullet was wasted

And though the battle was lost,

It was victory that the men tasted.


Now, the defenders ranks were dwindling

And the ammunition would soon be over.

The wall was breached; the gate was rushed,

It was the final hour.


Hand-to-hand fighting followed

As the men fell one by one

And each took sawa lakh with him

Before he was done.


A handful of men, a fort of stones,

Mud walls and a wooden door

But when the last man had fallen,

180 of the enemy were dead,

The wounded many more.


Under Havildar Ishar Singh,

They fought to the last man, last breath

They'd promised their all to the motherland

And fulfilled the promise with their death.


And the world stood up to honour

The heroic deeds of 21 men

That challenged the annals of history

To tell of more glorious action, if it can.


Today we forget our history

As we sway to foreign music and dance

While they teach the Battle of Saragarhi

To the students in far off France.


And we know not the men of Saragarhi

While the UNESCO includes their tale

In the 5 most significant events of its kind —

Collective bravery on the highest of scale.


And we remember not the men of Saragarhi-

The men who took a stand.

And we care not for the men of Saragarhi

Who laid their lives for our land.

- Ganeev Kaur Dhillon ( Student from a convent School at Chandigarh)



Briefing--Two forts on the Samana ridge of the Hindukush & Sulaiman ranges that is Fort Lockhart and Fort Gulistan were a few miles apart. Since these forts were not inter-visible, a signalling relay post called Saragarhi was located mid-way on a bluff to provide heliographic (A heliograph is a simple device for sending Morse code using a mirror catching the sunlight) communications between them. This post or picket had been fortified to provide safety and protection to the signalling detachment. In 1897 there was a general uprising in the NWFP engineered by Afghans as part of their policy, which came to be known as the 'prickly heat policy' to direct the wrath of the tribals against the British. In this uprising, Mullahs (Muslim religious leaders) played a prominent role. It was the duty of the 36th Sikh to occupy Gulistan and Lockhart forts. On 3rd and 9th September 1897, Orakazai and Afridi lashkars attacked Fort Gulistan. On both occasion the attacks were beaten back.

Haveldar Ishar Singh, the soldier in charge at Saragarhi. He was probably told to stay in the post and fight to the death and he would have positively said Yes asking no questions. The soldiers did not have machine guns, but just 21 rifles and an unknown amount of ammunition.

The last message from Saragarhi which flashed across with the sunbeams was: "People say one’s brothers are like one’s own arms. If you were our brothers, you would have seen our plight and helped us with ammunition. But it was beyond your power: the enemy has blocked all the roads. Brothers, we have served our Guru and our Emperor and now we take leave of you for ever."

Gurmukh Singh asked for permission to close the signal post. The permission was flashed back from Fort Lockhart. Gurmukh Singh dismounted his heliograph equipment, packed it in a leather case and fixed his bayonet on his rifle.

The tribesmen did not want to lose more men in hand to hand fighting and set fire to the tower. Gurmukh Singh perished in the flames shouting at top of his voice, "Boley so nihal, Sat Sri Akal."

The signaler, Gurmukh Singh, must also have been a remarkable character. It was his job, using a heliograph to send messages to and from the two forts Lockhart and Gullistan (see map). A heliograph is a simple device for sending Morse code using a mirror catching the sunlight. He would signal all day and signaled though the battle. One of the messages sent by Ishar Singh was "Down to half strength, but now each man has two rifles". The last message sent was "The enemy are inside now, request permission to stop signaling so I can join the fight". But he did not just throw down the heliograph, he packed it into its case before leaving his post.

As i type in tears dwell in my eyes and I give the HEROES who did not win the battle but did taste the manna dew of victory , a standing salute a gesture they well deserve. They stood and fought for the honour of the country and to save the name of their community giving out battle cries--
* Battle Cry: Jo Bole So Nihal, Sat Sri Akal (He who cries God is Truth, is ever victorious). Let us never forget these wat heroes. Proud to be Sikh.

Any correction and views are most welcome --> ijs20002002@yahoo.com

Tikka Inderjeet Singh Sodhi.


http://www.info-sikh.com/SSPage1.html
http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php?title=Battle_of_Saragarhi


P.S. - I thank the anonymous blog reader for providing me the name of the poetess, from the bottom of my heart .